


The Three Of Us

by CookieDoughMe



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: Happy Ending, Memory Loss, Multi, Post-Troubles, established threegulls relationship, i totally made myself cry, post-series(ish), smut with emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 06:39:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18733660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieDoughMe/pseuds/CookieDoughMe
Summary: This is inspired by the premise of the movie The Vow (which I watched for Lucas Bryant’s brief appearance and enjoyed the rest of much more than I expected to), which is itself based on a true story.Here, in a post-Troubles, post-series(ish) world (i.e. one with less death), Audrey, Duke and Nathan are in a happy relationship together when an accident causes Nathan to lose the last few years of his memories, taking him back to a time somewhere in the middle of season two; a time before he and Audrey got together, and when him and Duke were proclaiming hatred and distrust for each other at every opportunity. Will he admit to his feelings for Duke? Will he accept the idea of the three of them in a relationship? Will he get his memories back?





	1. Chapter 1

Audrey paced the hospital corridor anxiously. It had been the stupidest little accident, and for the longest moment she had expected Nathan to stand back up, rubbing his head and joking that maybe there had been some advantages to his Trouble after all. But no, he had just lain there. And then she saw the blood pouring from his temple, and then she saw how pale he was, and then she reached for her police radio and demanded paramedics asap.

Duke had come home then, calling ahead cheerfully about how he hadn't been able to get quite the ingredients he'd wanted from the farmers market but that they would still both be happy with what he was going to cook later because he had managed to get … except she never found out what because at that point he saw Nathan and the precious groceries fell from his fingers to clatter over the floor as Duke joined her at his side. He checked Nathan's breathing, his pulse, looked him over for other injuries. Audrey had been so glad he was there.

Now it was three days later and Duke sat nearby as Audrey paced. Nathan had spent the time in a medically induced coma, to give the swelling in his brain a chance to heal. The doctors were assessing him now, deciding whether it was time to try and wake him up.

The door to his room opened and Audrey spun around as Duke sprang out of his chair, to hear that they were taking Nathan off the sedation. They would keep him on the pain relief for now, but he should wake up in a few hours and then they would assess him again. There was a risk of brain damage they said.

Audrey and Duke nodded dumbly, took each others hands without looking. The doctors left and they walked into Nathan's room, sat either side of his bed and linked hands again over his chest, their other hands resting on his shoulders.

"Come on Nate," Duke said. "One more fight. Come back to us."

Audrey found herself singing. Some kind of lullaby, she didn't know where or when (or as who) she'd learned it. She sang quietly and Duke squeezed her hand.

They sat like that for a long time, until Nathan stirred. His fingers moved and then his eyes slowly fluttered open. Duke sprang up calling the doctors. Nathan turned to Audrey, "Parker?" he asked.

Even through the elation that he was awake, and could see and speak and knew who she was, something in her heart ran cold. He mostly always called her Audrey now, unless they were in the station, or over the radio. He hadn't called her Parker to her face when they were alone for a long, long time.

Duke came back ahead of the doctors and went to Nathan's other side, put his hand on Nathan's arm and offered a warm, "Hey."

Nathan frowned. "Crocker," he said in recognition, but there was no warmth to it. Duke's face froze. Audrey kept her voice carefully neutral as she asked Nathan, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Coffee," he replied, somewhat shakily. "We were having coffee."

Which, strictly speaking was true, but it didn't tell her much.

The doctor came in then and they stepped back to let her check him over. "You tripped and fell Nathan," she told him. "Your head caught the edge of a table and you're in hospital. Can you tell me what the date is?"

Nathan coughed, frowned. Either he was unsure or just in pain. "August," he said.

Duke and Audrey looked at each other, worried.

"29th," he added.

"Can you tell me the year?" the doctor asked.

He looked at her as though this question were a step too far. "2011," he replied impatiently.

Nathan looked from the concern on the doctor's face to the dismay on Audrey's. "What?" he asked.

Audrey let the doctor tell him. "We were afraid the accident might have affected your brain. One possible issue is problems with memory. Sometimes people forget the day of the accident, sometimes people forget longer periods of time."

Nathan looked at the three of them, frowning again. He sat up further, almost as though to get a better look at them, and Audrey realised that maybe he was taking in the changes in them since 2011 - that was only the year after she'd arrived in Haven. Her hair and been shorter then, and a lighter colour. They hadn't known who she was really, or how the Troubles worked. They had only just found out who the Colorado Kid was. So much had happened since then, so much more they knew now, so much, she thought as she looked over to Duke, had changed. Nathan wouldn't be able to see what he didn't know, but he could see her hair was a lot longer now, darker and yet shot through with Lexie-style highlights. He would also be able to see the change in Dukes hair; in 2011 not much longer than his own, now pulled back from his face in a ponytail that reached down past his shoulders. He was also, Audrey realised, wearing a shirt that was technically Nathan's, and she tried to remember how long he'd had it, whether Nathan would recognise it.

He peered at Duke for a moment, seemed about to ask him something, then turned to the doctor. "You're saying it's not actually August 2011?"

Duke and Audrey froze, waiting for his reaction as the doctor told him, "Its the 2nd November, 2018."

He laughed a short bark of surprise, then stopped as he saw they were serious.

"We're going to let you rest until this afternoon, then we'll run some more tests to assess the best course of treatment. It may be that your memories come back on their own, it may be there's some things we can do to help. But I should warn you," and she looked here meaningfully at all of them, "It is possible that you might not regain your memories at all."

The three of them nodded soberly.

"I'll be back after lunch," she told them. "There'll be brain scans and some blood tests; we won't have all the results until tomorrow. You two should take the chance this afternoon to go home for some rest."

Audrey and Duke thanked her as she went and Nathan looked more confused than ever. "How long have I been here?" he asked.

"Three days," she told him. "It feels like longer.

"You've been here the whole time?" he asked, surprised.

Audrey nodded. "Of course," she told him, and stepped back up to his the side of his bed to take his hand. "Both of us," she told him and nodded to Duke at his other side.

Nathan looked from one of them to another, realised a lot had happened in the seven years that he didn't remember, and decided to start with the basics. "The Troubles? What happened?" He rubbed the fingers of one hand together. "I can feel, but it's… funny. Dimmed."

"They've got you pumped full of all kinds of fun pain killers," Duke told him. "And the sedatives are probably still wearing off. But your Trouble’s gone."

" _The_ Troubles are gone,"Audrey clarified. "For good."

Nathan was surprised at that last part. "Are you sure they won't come back? What happened?"

Audrey blew out her cheeks. "That is a long story," she said. "Long and complicated and …" she looked over at Duke, _and painful_ , she thought. "We will tell you. We can tell you anything you don't remember, it's just … that's a lot for one morning."

"OK but … no more Troubles?"

"No more Troubles," agreed Audrey.

"And I'm still a cop?"

"You are Chief of Police."

"And you're still a cop?"

"Yes," Audrey replied with a smile. "Not that much else has changed in Haven as such, just …" her sentence dropped off and her and Duke looked at each other. How did you tell someone that not only was their colleague now also their lover but so was their one time enemy too?

Nathan saw the hesitation, saw the look between them and misread the reason behind it. "And you two are together?" he asked, voice a little flat.

"No!" said Audrey quickly. "Well, yes but … not as a couple. It's not just us, it's you too."

Nathan frowned at her, dubiously.

"We live together, the three of us," Duke said.

Nathan's frown only deepened. "When you say, 'together' …?" he asked.

Duke nodded. "Together. In your place officially, though we have the Rouge for trips away and the place above the Gull for when we might have drunk too much to drive home. We didn't change much in the house except for the bed. King size one just about fits in there."

Nathan looked from one of them too the other, obviously reluctant to believe them but equally lacking any idea as to why they would lie.

His gaze settled on Audrey, "Parker, come on," he appealed to her. "If you were to tell me we are a couple I'd call myself lucky, but … the two of us _and_ Duke? Me and _Duke_?"

Dukes face twisted but he could see why Nathan was asking the question. In 2011 they'd been at each other's throats.

Audrey looked at him kindly, squeezed his hand. "I know it might sound unlikely. I know the last conversation with him you remember is probably an argument. But, put that to one side for a moment. Stop and think about it; there is something about the idea of it that appeals to you." She reached over and took Duke's hand and they looked at him, waiting for a response.

"Well, I …" Nathan began. "I mean _how_? Why would he?"

"Don’t worry about the how's and the whys for the moment, " Audrey suggested. "Just know that it's possible. Here," she added, taking her phone out of her pocket to show him the screen. "Look."

He took it from her warily, looked closely at the photo. It was a selfie of the three of them on the beach, taken last month. They had the sun in their eyes and sand in their hair, their arms around each other and the biggest smiles on all of their faces.

"Better yet," Duke told him, "look at your own phone," and he passed it to him from where it sat on the counter.

Nathan took it and looked at it dubiously. "This isn't my phone," he said.

"Sure it is. It unlocks with your fingerprint," Duke told him and showed him where the sensor was.

"I've woken up in the future," mumbled Nathan as the screen flicked into life.

"Look at the photos," Audrey suggested.

They watched as he scrolled through them, eyes going wide. There were photos of the three of them together out or at home, or of one or other of them, not always fully dressed. There were photos of them covered in paint as they decorated the living room at the house. There were more photos of them on the beach and on other more exotic beaches too. In all of them they were together, and they were smiling.

"I, um …" Nathan let the phone fall into his lap, ran his fingers through his hair.

"Hey it's OK," Audrey assured him. "Its a lot to take in."

"Maybe we should give you some space. Let you think before the doctors start prodding and poking at you," said Duke. He squeezed Nathan's shoulder and then he took half a step back, preparing to head out.

Nathan looked at him with something like wonder, Audrey thought, amazement perhaps not only at the kind intent, but that Duke knew him so well as to be able to suggest exactly what he needed in that moment.

"We'll do what the doctor said," Duke added. "Go home and get some rest, and come back tomorrow."

"Yeah," said Nathan. "Yeah OK. Thanks."

"Nathan," Audrey said. "Whatever happens we're here for you OK? Whether you remember or not, whatever you want to do, we love you and we are _always_ here for you. Even if you don't remember anything else, you trust me enough to know that's true, right?"

Nathan looked at her for a moment, then nodded an agreement.

"OK good. Then that's the main thing. You're awake and you're you and we're here and … everything else is just details. We'll work it out together, the three of us."


	2. Chapter 2

Three weeks later and they were finding their way through it. Nathan had been pronounced physically healthy and released from hospital, but his memories had not returned and he hadn’t yet been signed off to go back to work. Audrey and Duke had taken him back to the house and he had appreciated the colour of the new paint in the living room, unaware it had been his idea. When they’d gone upstairs he’d looked at the new bed as though he was trying to remember its name. Audrey had suggested that her and Duke give him some breathing space by staying in the Rouge for a while. When he’d hesitated, Duke had suggested they come over for lunch every day, and then he’d agreed.

All of them were having therapy sessions with Claire; some individually, some Duke and Audrey, some all three of them together. She told all of them to be patient, shared some of her memories of the three of them with Nathan, and told Audrey and Duke to treat him as they had done before the accident, just with the understanding that it might be a while before he wanted to fall into bed with them. “Treat him like your boyfriend but as if there’s a child in the room, or a vicar or something” she’d advised; talk to him about being together but not about being in bed. “Keep it light, keep it family friendly. Don’t push too far too soon.” They could do that, they said.

And they did. And eventually it seemed like it had been good advice because in the end it was Nathan himself who broke it. It was late afternoon and they all had the day off. Duke had cooked a big lunch and was now making popcorn as Nathan picked a movie and Audrey opened some wine.

Suddenly, Nathan stopped what he was doing and sat back on the sofa with a little, “huh,” as though of realisation. Audrey put a glass of wine on the coffee table in front of him and Duke sat down on his other side with the popcorn. 

“Alright?” asked Audrey.

Nathan turned to her, “Did we …. Either I just remembered something we did a few years ago, or I just remembered a dream. Did we take a vacation in a log cabin with a hot tub outside?”

The grin that flicked across Audrey’s face told him the answer even before she responded, “We did!” She resisted the urge to tell him everything about that trip for his birthday a few years ago. Claire had advised them to let him find his own memories; to tell him when he got something right, or if he didn’t, but not to fill in too many gaps for him.

“It was …” Nathan let his head fall back against the sofa and closed his eyes, frowning. “It was north of here somewhere, and inland, and it was winter. There was snow on the ground and we had this little log cabin out in the trees on all it’s own with a wood burner inside?”

“We did,” Duke told him, his voice full of warmth and thick with emotion. That had been a great weekend. If he could have picked the first thing for Nathan to remember, he wouldn’t have chosen anything else.

“We …” Nathan laughed to himself. “There were two twin bedrooms and we dragged one of the beds into the other room; strapped three mattresses together to make one big bed.”

Audrey put her glass of wine down, put her hand softly on his, a gently encouragement that he continue.

“We sat naked in the hot tub while it was snowing, warm in the water and watching the snowflakes melt as they hit our skin. You …” Nathan kept his eyes closed but he reached his other hand out towards Duke. Duke put the bowl of popcorn on the floor and gently put his hand in Nathan’s, who wrapped his fingers around it. “You … kissed me. I felt your beard on my skin, your tongue against mine, the warmth of the water the snowflakes on my shoulders,” he said in wonder, “I felt all of it.” Duke squeezed his hand and looked at Audrey with tears in his eyes.

“After a while our ears started to get cold and that was when we realised we’d left the towels inside. You,” Nathan jogged Duke’s hand, “said I’d planned it but I didn’t,” he finished amiably. “But when we got out and ran for the cabin the cold hit my skin and it felt electric. To be able to feel all of that, it felt like such a gift,” his voice full of wonder and gratitude.

He fell silent and Audrey offered, “It was beautiful there, even if it was cold.”

“It was cold outside,” Nathan clarified. “But we had the wood burner going inside and wrapped ourselves in big warm towels.”

Duke looked at Audrey, stayed quiet as he mouthed,  _ I want to kiss him. _

She smiled, told him,  _ Later. _

“You kissed me again and your nose and your hands were cold but your tongue was warm and when you … when you held me close your … body was warm too. You,” he squeezed Audrey’s hand, “were watching us. You like to do that?” he asked.

Audrey’s laugh was warm and bright. “I love to watch you two kiss. You are beautiful together.”

Nathan seemed to accept this sentiment as it slotted into his memory, and then he carried on. “We dried each other’s hair with those fluffy towels, or … No. You,” he turned to Duke, “dried my hair but when I reached for yours you told me …” he screwed up his face, as though searching for the right words. “... it was a day for you to do things for me, that it was …” He stopped and realised, “Was it my birthday?”

“It was!” they told him.

“You said you had a plan for me; a gift. I thought the cabin, the hot tub, the trip was the gift, but you both told me you had a plan for how to make me feel amazing. You … had a blind fold and I … my breath catches just thinking about it. Just the way you said you had a plan for me turned me on, god how could I have forgotten the two of you pressed against me?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Audrey told him. “It’s OK. Just remember that night. What did we do after we blindfolded you?”

“You led me to the bed. Put me on my back and, and tied me to it.” Nathan’s voice was full of wonder still, and not just at what the memory was, or the fact that he could remember it, but that he was sat here now, telling it to them. That his lovers had held this memory for him and waited for him to find his way back to them.

“You … pulled my ankles and wrists taught with something soft and strong tied around them; tied me to each corner of the bed, stretched out across it. And then … then you teased me. God, for hours. You knelt either side of me and kissed each other above my stomach and I could feel your knees against my sides and feel the warmth of you and hear the sounds of your kisses and god I wanted to watch but the anticipation was …. delicious.”

Duke looked at Audrey and nodded downwards at the erection in Nathan’s pants, but they let Nathan talk.

“I felt you move away across the bed and I didn’t know what was coming but I knew that whatever it would be I would want it. You ran your fingers over me, you hands, your mouths, your tongues. One touch on my wrist, then one inside my thigh, then a kiss on my ear then … then a mouth on my cock. I had a safeword,” he realised with some surprise.

“Do you remember what it was?” Duke asked.

“Lobsters,” Nathan told them, laughing. “I didn’t use it though.”

“We wanted to make sure we didn’t over do it,” Duke told him. “We teased you for a long time.”

“I loved it,” Nathan assured him. “I could hardly breathe after a while but I loved it. I pulled so tight against the restraints I had bruises the next day, but I didn’t want them to give way.” 

Duke shifted his hand to run a thumb over Nathan’s wrist. Nathan let out a little, “hmmm,” in agreement or appreciation, or possibly both. He squeezed Duke’s hand, “You went down on me while Audrey kissed me and you both moved so slowly I could just soak it all up. You told me you were going to stretch it out, that you weren’t going to make me come that way. I asked how and you told me to wait and see. You carried on for a long time, and Audrey was still kissing me as you pulled away and blew on my wet skin. Something so soft and subtle and yet I could feel it. I could feel all of it, I could feel my heart beating in my chest and I thought I was going to burst.”

“And then?” Audrey prompted gently after a moment.

“Then you straddled me. I felt your knees either side of my hips and your breasts against my chest as you kissed me and then you asked if you could fuck me and I had to try and remember how speaking worked. And then you did and I forgot how to breathe. I asked for the blindfold to go so I could watch you. Duke pulled it off me and he was right there too, kissing my skin and running his hands over me and it was so much - it was almost too much but then it was the two of you so it wasn’t. It was perfect. And after I came I watched you two make each other come and it was … it was just perfect. It was a perfect weekend.”

Nathan opened his eyes and sat up a little straighter. “And you know what?” He said, looking from one to the other, “It doesn’t matter if I never remember anything else; I remember how I felt that day. I mean, not just physically - I remember how I felt about you. I might not know exactly how we got there, but I know that the three of us belong together and I know that I love the both of you, and I know that not even a brain injury can take that away from me for long.”

They sat there, movie and wine forgotten, and grinned at each other for a long moment, squeezing each other’s hands.

“So you …? “ Duke began. “That is … We’ve still got those restraints upstairs. If you would like a rerun.”

Nathan smiled, warm and open, but he shook his head. “No,” he said. “I think I owe the two of you some attention today. And I might need to relearn all the things you like. Touch you all over until I find your favourite spots again.”

Duke ginned. “That could work,” he said.

Audrey laughed, delighted.

Nathan stood with their hands still in his, pulling them up with him and turned towards the bedroom. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s make some new memories.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you are glad you did, then any form of positive comment is always very welcome.


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